Connected
by ashangel101010
Summary: Palladium has always listened to the Voice of Nature. He has survived because of it. However, he has never had a reason to live. But then, the light finds him. Now, his dream is to find the light again. And the Voice of Nature will guide him to the light.
1. The Voice of Nature

Connected Prologue

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Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Innocent Days by HeroicPlights

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He is alone. He should not be disturbed by this. He has been alone before. Like when the adults leave to go hunting or fighting the Light Elves, the elders and children are left behind. Usually, the children play with each other, while the elders share stories. However, he has never been allowed to play with the children. It is a taboo for children to touch the sacrifice.

The elders and adults may touch the sacrifice because they have proven their strength. Children cannot prove their strength until they are twelve. However, the sacrifice is not allowed to prove his strength. It is because he is not expected to live long. He is the weakest one and therefore must die one day.

When the adults are gone, the elders would take him to a tree, far from the children. He would be tied up and left there until the adults would return. This has been going on since he was born. His earliest memory was being inside his baby basket that was tied to a tree. This is not out of cruelty, but simply because it is the way of the Woodland Elves.

He is weak simply because of his coloration. His skin is the color of barely cooked bread. His hair is a brownish-orange like the autumn leaves. His eyes are the color of wet dirt. He is skinnier and shorter than most children are, but that's mostly due to only being allowed to eat the scraps of the Woodland Elves. He is far too light to be a strong Woodland Elf.

Woodland Elves are dark in nature. Their skin is as black as the darkness. Their hair is a dark brown that is often confused with the color black. Their eyes are black rings against the only trace of light on their body. They are tall and muscular enough to reach the branches of mature trees. They are born to have great strength and grace, but, sometimes, there is a weak one born amongst them.

The weak one is also known as the sacrifice, but he has a name. His name is Palladium, which is also a weak metal in this Realm. The parents of the sacrifice are killed in order to prevent any more like him from being created. The sacrifice is only allowed to live because killing a helpless baby is dishonorable, which is why only Nature is allowed to take his life. When he dies, his body will be left at Nature's disposal. It means the wild animals will feast upon his corpse.

Palladium knows that he will die. He knows that he will never become strong. He knows that he is destined to die alone. This is Nature's design. He is not angry. He is not sad. He is just alone. Well, not really. Sometimes, he can hear the Voice of Nature in his head. It's a common gift amongst his people, which has added to their chances of survival for centuries.

He has heard from the elders and adults about the Voice of Nature. It is supposed it guide your survival. It tells you the best place to hunt or to ambush a Light Elf. It guides you through a forest when you've lost your way. It's a feeling, a strong instinct. Almost like a voice inside your head, but without words. The Voice of Nature is like that for all the strong Woodland Elves.

However, Palladium can hear an actual voice from the Voice of Nature. He can hear words. The voice is loud and clear inside his head. Clearer than the voices of the adults, the elders, and the children. The Voice of Nature has kept him from dying.

The Voice of Nature has told him how to suck water from the trees by saying some words and concentrating. Even as an infant, he was able to get nutritious milk by mimicking the sounds of baby animals. The Voice of Nature just provided him what the baby animals would sound like in his head. As long as you were hydrated, you will survive. It was the first lesson he ever learned.

Perhaps, it is because that he is excluded from his people that he can hear the Voice of Nature so perfectly. He has nothing to distract his mind from listening to the Voice of Nature. His mind is free from bonds with other people and the memories of them that would take up space. He has no dreams, or ambitions, or even a future to think about. This why he can hear the Voice of Nature.

"_You will live. Someone is coming for you. The light."_ For once, the Voice of Nature is being very cryptic. Palladium does not understand why the Voice of Nature sounds so….happy. The Voice of Nature has no need to be emotional. He is just the sacrifice. He will die one day. While the rest of his people continue to live, breed, hunt, fight, and play. Why is it being so caring?

"_The light."_

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**Author's Comments- **This is the replacement for _Like Every Child Should_ and _The Exotic Rose_ stories. I have never been able to do Palladium justice as a character. I have tried, but, ultimately, I failed in execution and in fulfilling my expectations. I am excited to write about his character again. I am hoping that I won't lose interest again. I guess the whole purpose of the story is to explain how Palladium ended up at Alfea. Well, it's more like an underlying purpose because this is more about how Palladium became the person who he was in season one. God, I love season one Palladium so much. I'm just not into his Tolkien evolution. Please comment.


	2. The Light

Connected Chapter One

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Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Song for Four/Home from Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor

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The bark against Palladium's unclothed back is starting to become cold like ice. The trees in the Elfin Realm are uniquely attuned to the weather. The Woodland Elves feel the trees to know the weather, rather than look up at the sky. The cold bark is a sign that there will be snow tonight.

Palladium knows that he is ill-equipped to handle the snow. He is wearing a patchwork skirt of deerskin and tree bark. The bark in his skirt is making his thighs feel colder than they normally are. He is barefoot like most of his people are during the early autumn months.

The Voice of Nature never told him that he will have all of his limbs. He knows it is very likely that he will lose his toes or even a leg tonight. It's okay because the Voice of Nature told him that he will be saved. He will not die tonight. He will get to live another day.

He is looking up at the sky. He can feel the cold seeping into his body. The sky is a tepid gray with bits of white. He knows that the stars are out tonight like they are every night. The clouds are obscuring his stars, but they are giving him something equally unique as the stars.

The snow flows from the clouds slowly like a stream drying up in the summer months. The snowflakes tickle the tips of his ears, but the iciness cuts into his shivering skin. He does not hate the snow for making him cold. He only wishes that the light would come soon. He is very cold.

His stomach is starting to bother him. His stomach is clenching and growling like a wolf with his leg in a dragon-teeth trap. He tries to suck water from the tree, but his teeth keep clinking clumsily together. He is shivering too hard to recite the spell for water. He is very hungry.

The snow is starting to cling to his hair like the frozen soil under his small feet. The snow is coming in thick now. The snow builds atop of his head, becoming heavy like a gilded crown. His neck aches from trying to keep his head up. He believes the light will come from the sky like a falling star. But he cannot see a falling star in this weather. So how will he see the light?

He can endure this. He will be saved like the Voice of Nature said. He just has to stay awake. He has stayed awake before like during the winters when all of the Woodland Elves were sleeping by the fires in their huts, while he was huddled against the dying embers of the hunting feast. He couldn't fall asleep on those cold nights because the Voice of Nature warned him that he would never wake up if he did.

He wants to keep his eyes open, but the snowflakes are sticking to his eyelashes like a thorn in his foot. He wishes that he could use his hand to wipe the snowflakes from his eyes, but the rope is far too tight to allow such movement. A harsh, howling wind causes him to close his eyes.

He can see the darkness inside his mind. He can hear the icy wind snapping at his trembling body. He can feel the chill taking away the feeling in his arms and legs. He is cold, hungry, and alone. He is waiting to be saved. He is waiting for the light.

And then, like the shining sun of Solaria, the light has come. Palladium opens his eyes to see the light. The light is made of yellow and white rays that cut through his binding. The light has hands and pulls him into a warm embrace. Palladium can hear a heart beating in the light.

Wings stretch out from the light like they will cut the Realm in two. They are ascending, leaving behind the frosty earth. Palladium buries his head deeper into the chest. He can feel the warmth entering his body, returning the feeling to his frostbitten limbs. The light has saved him.

He has never felt this warm before. He knows that he has been warm before. He has even been hot before. However, this warmth that the light is exuding is like an emotion that Palladium is unfamiliar with. It is strange to him like the Voice of Nature's concern.

He looks up at the light and realizes the light has a face. The face is handsome with a square jaw that is uncommon amongst all Elves. Yet, the light is blinding, or hiding, the eyes and hair from him. He almost believes that the light just only has a face, a chest, arms, and wings.

Tears hit Palladium's bewitched face. The tears are not stinging him with saltiness, but giving him more of that special light in liquid form. The light has eyes, and Palladium wishes he can see the light's eyes. He wants to see the source of those wonderful tears.

He wants to thank the light for saving him. However, he is too stupefied to speak properly. Instead, he lifts his small, bony hand to the light's face. It is his way of conveying his gratefulness. He can feel the streaks of those special tears on the light's face.

Palladium buries his head deep into the light's chest. He closes his eyes and feels like he is drifting. He is warm and alive. He feels fey and so very, very happy. The light holds him tighter like he is not the sacrifice. He is being held like a strong Woodland Elf child.

"The light." Palladium sleepily murmurs like he has been sung a lullaby. Lullabies are for children who will become adults. He knows that he will never become an adult for he is the weakest Woodland Elf. Yet, in the light's embrace, he is doubting his inevitable death.

"The light." Palladium repeats once again like a spell for protection. He never wants to part from the light. He wants to be with the light forever. If he dies, then he will lose the light. He has to live, so the light will be always with him. In his final moments before his slumber, he has found a dream.

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**Author's Comments- ** Originally, this was supposed to be done two days ago. Yet, I needed to do some revisions. It was supposed to be shorter, but I added some additional paragraphs because it felt more right. Can anyone guess who the light is? I can't confirm it, but most of you have probably figured it out by now. Happy Holidays to all of you.


	3. Childhood Part One

Connected Chapter Two

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Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- She by Atomic

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Palladium cries into the waking world. The light has vanished. He knows that the light is gone for he feels miserable and cold. The light is warmth. The light is happiness. The light is his dream.

"Stop that, you savage!" A Light Elf hissed at him. Palladium goes silent and stares at the Light Elf. He has never seen one before, but he has heard tales of them from the elders and the mature Woodland Elves. They share the same tongue but cannot understand one another.

Light Elves reflect their namesake in the sense that all of them are white in skin and hair. Their eyes and clothes are the only colors to these white beings. They are smaller in height and less muscular than Woodland Elves. However, they are more numerous and skilled in words.

"That soft-hearted Paladin had to save you. He just couldn't be cruel. Not even to some sickly savage." The Light Elf's red eyes cut through him like the winter wind.

"If Nature is merciful, then maybe you'll die before you gain intelligence." Light Elves and Woodland Elves have hated each other since the Realm's creation. Palladium doesn't know why, but hatred is what kept the Elves from being homologous.

"Where is the light?" Palladium asked softly like he was dealing with a wounded wolf. He would have rather not talked to the Light Elf, but he needs the light. He needs respite from the harsh words by the Light Elf.

"The light is above you from the 'lightbulb', but a savage like you cannot hope to grasp the finer points of civilization." Palladium misses the Woodland Elves treatment of him. Do all Light Elves enjoy making biting remarks against Woodland Elves?

"No, I mean the light. The light brighter than sunshine. The light with heart. The light with wings!" Palladium can hear his voice cracking like the skull of a baby pig. The Woodland Elves would never converse with him, so he lacks the endurance for talking.

"Oh, the Paladin? He's gone. Lost his commitment to his mission. Foolish Paladin, he was too _**pure **_for the true nature of his mission." Palladium does not like how the Light Elf is mocking the light. The light is a Paladin, but Palladium doesn't know what "Paladin" even means.

"_A Paladin is a warrior that trains in a specific element like light."_ The Voice of Nature answered. Palladium is glad and smiles. The light is a warrior like mature Woodland Elves. The light is strong.

"You smile like that foolish Paladin. Unlike him, you don't have any power. You're weak to the point of your own people leaving you to die." Palladium is not angry. He has been told since the day he was born that he was weak but not in such a harsh manner.

"Will you kill me for being weak?" Even if Palladium is weak, he is still a Woodland Elf. Light Elves like killing Woodland Elves. He is only sadden by the thought of never being with the light again.

"Stupid savage, I am unfortunately not allowed to do so. Nor is any Light Elf allowed to. Your 'light' made sure that we cannot harm someone as repulsive as you." Palladium stares at the Light Elf with dullness in his eyes like he might go to sleep.

"If the light is not here, then what is really preventing you from killing me?" Palladium is not well-versed in magic, but he knows words can be broken like his unused voice. Light Elves break treaties like twigs.

"The Paladin is well connected to the point that he could have most of us thrown into the Omega Dimension for 'genocide' even though my kind shares no similarities with yours." If Palladium was strong, he would have retorted that they share the same tongue so they cannot be completely different.

"The light is powerful if he can protect me without being here. You are weak." He is referring to Light Elves in general. His tone lacks the learned mockery of the Light Elf but sounds as harsh.

The Light Elf's red eyes widen like a feral animal about to strike. She gets up from her white chair, stalks across the white floor, and reaches his white bed. Her white hands graze his delicate neck. He wrinkles his nose from the rotten stench of her hands. She pulls back and sneers at him.

"Savage, the Voice of Nature is what is preventing me from doing the right thing. Killing you would be right, but your death would hinder my survival." Palladium's eyes fill with tears. Not the happy ones that the light inspired but ones of betrayal.

"Oh, did you really think that your kind was the only ones who have the Voice of Nature." The Light Elf face twists into a malicious smile. Palladium's tears sting his cheeks like a slap.

"_Do not cry anymore." _The Voice of Nature commands. Palladium takes in a deep breath and wipes his tears and mucus from his face. His head and eyes are aching, but he manages to stop himself from crying further.

"The Voice of Nature is an instinct, a gut feeling. Everyone is capable of having the Voice of Nature." Palladium notices that the Light Elf does not say that she can hear the Voice of Nature. She can only grasp the basic level of the Voice of Nature like a baby.

"Savage, you get the glorious honor of being raised in civilization. You get to go to school, but no one expects much from a savage like yourself." As the sacrifice, he was never taught how to read, write, or speak. The Voice of Nature taught him how to speak.

"But first you need a name before you can be registered. Perhaps, Savage? Names are what make a person, and you are a savage." The Light Elf's laugh reminds Palladium of a dying horse.

"My name is _**Palladium**_." He nearly screams his name at the Light Elf. He coughs from his near-scream for a few minutes. The Light Elf laughs again.

"Even better. You're named for the weakest and most useless metal in this Realm. It's so fitting!" The Light Elf is pleased with his name. She goes back to her side of the white room to draw up his registration forms.

Palladium lies back down on the white bed. He does not want to be here. He wants to be with the light. But the light is gone. How can someone as weak as him find the light?

"_Listen to me as you always has. You will meet the light again with my guidance. For now, you must observe the Light Elves."_ Palladium does not cry. He obeys the Voice of Nature like he always has. The Voice of Nature will guide him back to the light. All he has to do is observe until then.

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**Author's Comments- **Palladium doesn't find out who the light is or what happened to his people. The latter will be solved by the next chapter. For the next six chapters or so, it will be about Palladium's time with the Light Elves. I dub the time as Palladium's "Childhood" because it's time that goes by quickly to adults, but slowly to children.


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